New scoreboard unveiled at St. C.

September 29, 2013

ST. CLAIRSVILLE - A spectacular addition to Red Devil Stadium was unveiled last week during the OVAC Cup Soccer Tournament, but was truly on display Friday night when St. Clairsville hosted Indian Creek in Buckeye 8 football action.

A huge, brightly colored state-of-the-art video, message board and scoreboard, designed by Nevco, was erected inside the north end of the stadium. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place prior to the Red Devils' 21-0 blanking of the Redskins on Hall of Fame Night before a jam-packed crowd.

The total cost came in at a little more than $200,000, according to St. Clairsville Athletic Director Kelly Rine.

Article Photos

T-L?Photo/KIM NORTHTHE NEW scoreboard at St. Clairsville’s Red Devil Stadium was unveiled this week for the OVAC?Soccer Cup Tournament and the St. C. football game against Indian?Creek on Friday.

"We're excited, obviously," Rine said. "It's a little later than expected, but give a lot of credit to people like Walt Skaggs, our maintenance staff, our technology staff who were patient and tremendous behind the scenes."

For the sake of leaving anyone out, he added that there were some local contractors and a lot different people played key roles in getting this thing up and running.

"We had a few delays, but once the work really got started it went pretty quick," he added. "A lot of our people were responsible for that, so they deserve a lot of credit."

The new addition features the largest video board in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, measuring 11'x 18.87' and featuring a 20mm display.

The project became a joint effort between the St. Clairsville Stadium Improvement Project Committee, which oversaw the installation of the synthetic turf and polyurethane track, and Scholastic Sports Marketing.

The majority of the sponsorship money generated goes to pay for the scoreboard and then once it's paid for, the school benefits. Rine indicated that all money raised from those sponsorships will remain within the field.

They'll be used for upgrades at the facility as needed.

The law firm of Bordas & Bordas is the title sponsor, with the "Big 4" sponsors being Ohio University Eastern, Rice Energy, Strate Mine Services and Sulek & Dutton Real Estate. Listed as Official Sponsors are WesBanco, Toothman Funeral Homes and the St. Clairsville Booster Clubs.

Along with the video board, the new scoreboard will feature a message board and offer opportunities for students to extend their classroom work and learn how to operate the board.

The board will also be a big plus in track season. St. C., which is the host site for the OVAC Track and Field Championship and is currently being considered as a regional host, will be able to broadcast races on the board and link its timing system into the board to show immediate results, making it especially fan friendly.

"The addition of a video board to the facility truly opens our school to even greater fan engagement and access to the action on the field," Rine offered. "We anticipate added exposure for our sponsors along with the capability to feature live, electronic timing and video of each event contested."

The innovative video board will greatly enhance the fan experience by providing high quality video and entertainment content at games and events held at the venue, including St. Clairsville football, girls and boys soccer, girls and boys track and field and other sporting events hosted at the Stadium.

"The opportunity to add this board rests solely on commitments of advertisers and sponsors through the Stadium Improvement Committee, so we encourage those interested to contact them and express any interest they may have in being a part of this project," Walt Skaggs, St Clairsville Superintendent and High School Principal noted.

Educational opportunities extend to the student body, as select students will assist in running the video board on game days and consideration will be given as to how students can enhance their skill set by participating in gathering content for the board.